Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a method and apparatus for resource-aware desktop image decimation.
Description of the Related Art
Traditional techniques for encoding computer desktop display images for remote computing environments comprise decomposing the image at an object level or a pixel level to separate high detail content such as text and icons before subjecting remaining areas of high color diversity to transform domain lossy compression such as Discrete Fourier Transform (DCT) or wavelet encoding. A major problem with such compression techniques is the limited dynamic range offered by any particular set of quantization tables. When using such traditional methods, user experience becomes compromised in low bandwidth remote computing scenarios or cases when the host computer is accessed from a client computer with limited computing resources. In such cases, high image quality is both desirable and attainable for static images or sporadically changing content but very high compression may be desired for rapidly changing content regions such as video windows where users generally favor a higher frame rate at poor image quality over a high quality image sequence delivered at a poor frame rate. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for improving the dynamic compression range of image content associated with encoded computer desktop display images.